


The Blacksmith's Vigil

by FrenchKey



Series: Stony Fairy Tale Bingo 2018 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scottish Mythology, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Based on Thomas the Rhymer, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Stolen away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-05 15:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14047269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchKey/pseuds/FrenchKey
Summary: While out for a walk, Tony meets a mysterious and beautiful stranger. What's a humble blacksmith to do when a Fae of the court asks for a kiss?





	The Blacksmith's Vigil

**Author's Note:**

> This is my fill for Y5 - Free Square of my Stony Bingo. It's based on the traditional Scottish tale of Thomas the Rhymer. [ This](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_the_Rhymer) is the Wikipedia page for the original myth. I've stuck fairly closely to events as they happened. Feel free to play spot the difference!
> 
> Thank you to the absolutely wonderful [ thattardiskey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thattardiskey/pseuds/thattardiskey) for an excellent and super-speedy beta of this. I really appreciate the help. Thank you also to my good friend for the myth suggestion. I'm sure you know who you are!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the story!

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Tony. He was a perfectly ordinary Scottish blacksmith. One day, as he knelt by the river, slaking his thirst, he heard a cacophony of hoofbeats. A large hind streaked past him, followed by a horse, ridden by the most beautiful man Tony had ever seen. He was tall and blonde, with wind tousled hair and deep blue eyes. He reached into his quiver, nocked an arrow to his bow and let it fly, felling the hind in one smooth movement. Tony gasped. The man swung around to face him.

‘Who are you that dares to trespass on my hunt?’ the man demanded.

‘I am simply a humble blacksmith,’ Tony replied.

Looking at the man more closely, Tony noticed a few things. His eyes were of the deepest blue and Tony heard the sea when he looked at them. His ears were elongated and slightly pointed. When the man smiled, Tony knew that he had been right. His teeth were pointed and his smile feral. This was no ordinary hunter, this was a member of a Fae court. Tony bowed.

‘I see you understand who I am,’ the faerie man said.

‘I know you are a noble of the court,’ Tony relied. ‘I apologise for intruding.’

The faerie man looked him up and down. Tony shivered as the gaze rake over him. He had seen the ocean once, as a young boy, and this evoked the same sense of tiny insignificance in him as he had felt then. Suddenly, the man smiled and Tony felt warm again. He couldn’t help but smile in response.

‘I suppose I shall have to forgive you,’ he said. ‘My name is Steve. How should I refer to you?’

Tony thought that Steve was a slightly odd name for a faerie noble but he ignored the impulse to mention it.

‘Call me Tony,’ he said, and winced.

He knew better. He grown up on his Aunt Ana’s stories of the fae. He knew the lore and he knew the rules. Yet, the moment a pretty man smiled at him, he forgot it all and gave out his True Name. Steve’s eyebrows rose.

‘You are lucky I choose not to take advantage of mortal blunders, Tony,’ he said.

Tony felt power rush through him. He imagined that if he could see himself, his hair would be sticking up on end.

‘I will, however, require payment from you for your trespass,’ Steve continued.

‘I will willingingly pay whatever price you demand, my lord. I am, however, a mere working man and have little that would be of worth to you,’ Tony said.

A gorgeous smile grew on Steve’s face. Heat slithered up Tony’s spine and curled around his neck. He smiled back.

‘All I ask, is for a kiss,’ Steve said.

Tony struggled not to shout with joy. He’d wanted to kiss Steve as soon as he saw him, even before he’d realised the man was a faerie. Afterwards, well no one had ever accused Tony of having much self-preservation. He stepped forward as Steve swung down from his horse and landed lightly on the ground. Steve stepped in closer until Tony was nose-to-chest with him. He sucked in a deep breath. Steve was tall. It hadn’t been as obvious when he had been mounted on the horse, but now that he was on the ground, Tony could see that he barely came up to the man’s shoulder. He shivered. 

Steve stretched out a hand and brushed his finger down Tony’s cheek, leaving a cold tingle behind. He tipped his head back and smiled at Steve who slid his hand to the back of Tony’s head and gently pulled him forward until he was leaning on Steve. Tony panted quietly. This was already the hottest thing he’d ever experienced and they hadn’t even kissed yet. Leaning down as Tony leaned up, Steve touched their lips together. Tony gasped into the kiss and Steve took the opportunity to deepen it, plundering Tony’s mouth with his tongue. The taste of salt-spray and summer days burst across Tony’s tongue. Sunbursts danced behind his eyelids and he surrendered all of his weight to Steve, trusting the faerie to hold him up.

Eventually, the kiss ended and Steve helped Tony to regain his balance. He blinked in the sunlight at the vision of a man that stood before him. Steve smiled and leaped back onto his horse. He turned the horse around and was about to gallop away.

‘Wait!’ Tony called. ‘Please.’

Steve stopped, and turned to face Tony again. He raised one eyebrow but did not speak.

‘Take me with you. Please! My lord, please. Take me with you when you leave!’

***

So it was that Tony the blacksmith entered Faerie Land with Steve of the Summer Court. They lived together in happiness for seven, perfect years, growing ever closer and more in love. Steve fed Tony a single apple upon his arrival that sustained him and allowed him safe passage through the Summer Lands. Tony helped in the stables and the forge, working with metals never before seen by mortals to create great works of art. The pair were happy. 

Upon the summer solstice that year, Steve asked Tony to stay forever and be his husband. He promised that, upon their joining in matrimony, he would offer a second apple, one that would grant Tony the immortality and powers of a minor fae. Tony was ecstatic and accepted instantly. They spread the news throughout the court and began to issue wedding invitations. Not everyone, however, was pleased to hear of the imminent marriage.

Lord Tiberius of the winter court had seen Tony and wanted the mortal for himself. News of his engagement to Steve enraged the faerie and he set plans in motion to kidnap Tony for his own. Rumours of this made their way to Steve’s ears and he sent imps and sprites to find the truth. They brought back dire news. The rumours were true and it was not to be long before Tiberius struck. There was no time to bring the wedding forward. There was only one solution. 

***  
‘It’s the only way to protect you, Tony!’ Steve said.

‘I don’t want to go. Steve. Please don’t send me away,’ Tony begged.

‘There’s no other choice. If I don’t, you’ll become a slave of Tiberius. He’s the sort they tell tales of in the mortal world. You’d never be the same again.’

‘Steve… please.’

‘Tony, please don’t make me watch him turn you into something else. I love you. I couldn’t bear that.’

‘As I can’t bear to be parted from you!’

‘It won’t be forever. I’ll send for you as soon as it’s safe. Tony, please let me protect you. You have no magic that could stand up to him. He would crush your spirit beneath his boot.’

***

Tony returned to the mortal world in the autumn, seven years after he thought he’d left forever. He carried with him a harp of finest gold and the ability to play it and the gifts of prophecy and poetry. These things Steve had gifted him as a reminder and a promise. Tony returned to his forge and his work, baffling and astounding the villagers who remembered him. Soon, he became famous for more than just his wonderful talent in smithing. He played the harp every evening, a lament for his lost love, and he prophesied happiness and good fortune to those who deserved it. 

Years passed. Still Tony kept his evening vigil, playing to a man that would one day return to him. He received many offers of marriage, courtship, or even a simple tumble in the sheets but he denied them all. The villagers whispered about the strength of his love and devotion. It was admirable, they would say, but none truly believed that his faerie love would return. The fae were fickle and no doubt he had moved on. They tried to encourage Tony to do the same.

Fourteen years had passed and, despite himself, Tony began to wonder. He knew that Steve would never have forsaken their love, but Tiberius was a powerful fae. Perhaps Steve had fallen to the other’s magic. There was no way Tony would be able to know. His gift for prophecy only worked when used on behalf of others. Of his own future, he could see nothing. Still, he observed his vigil.

Spring turned towards summer in the fourteenth year of Tony’s exile. Newborn animals began to grow and explore, buds sprang open and perfumed the village, and the sun stayed longer in the sky. Tony sat upon his steps and raised his hands to his harp. As the first notes rang out across the garden, a hart stepped out of the forest. It stood, silent and watchful, until Tony finished his playing and then it melted back into the trees. Tony grabbed the harp and followed. The hart led him deeper and deeper into the forest. Soon they were joined by a hind, which took up a position on Tony’s other side. He walked between them until they reached the river where he had first met Steve. He turned, bowed once to each, and jumped.

Villagers who had seen him leave said that he had finally given up hope and drowned himself. They left in the morning to look but found no sign of the blacksmith. Tony’s story was passed down as a cautionary tale to children for years to come. In Faerie Land, well, Tony and Steve married and lived happily ever after.


End file.
